WOOHOO

613 posts. Joined in 2007. <deleted>??

I can offer the OP an example that has worked, as I have been doing it for ten years now with my four children, now aged 6, 11, 16 and 19, and it has worked fine for them. We live September to March in Chiangmai and April to August in France. As far as I can see, one has two choices if doing this: homeschooling or boarding schools. If you choose the former, you will be heavily criticised by people who think all children should be with others their own age. Personally, I believe that is true of teenagers, but not before puberty, so my children have been taught at home by a Thai teacher (also competent in English) until aged about twelve, then sent to boarding school in England or France. I believe it has been very good for them, but then I must add that they were already being home-schooled when we started living half and half, because I believed that was better for them anyway. So starting to live equally in two countries was just an added bonus, not a reason for doing it.

Jeremy

Where to start with that post! Firstly, I'm sure your kids are all good, well rounded people, so I won't even begin to pretend I know more than you. My son is two and a half, and I blunder through every day doing the best I can, which I'm fairly sure is good enough.

I do however have some issues. Military families come to mind. Soldiers always think they are doing well enough for their kids, but I think, in reality, they're always putting themselves first and their kids last. I don't think you'll find it to hard to find children of soldiers who will agree. Kids who wish they hadn't been pushed from pillar to post, school to school, group of friends to group of friends. I can't help but think when boarding schools are involved, the kids can't possibly be the winners. (Yes I know lots of kids love being at boarding school, and wouldn't have it any other way, but if that's all they know!!)

I know it's horses for courses, but I'm 33 and my mother would have me living with her right now if she could, and the thought of me being out of her sight when I was a kid would be abhorrent to her. I have to agree, I already feel the same way about my son.

If you can honestly say that their interests came first all the time, which I'm sure you can, then who could argue against it. Lets face it, Chiang Mai and France, that's not a bad lot, but boarding school and home tuition, not for my boy.

You may not want to answer this, but would it be accurate to assume that you are from a privileged back ground? For certain classes, boarding school is just a normal way of life, so that would be a different kettle of fish.

Where are you posting from this week I wonder, Uk again is it, remember your running in the road thread that got closed for trolling, suspect this thread will go the same way...

I post on threads like this as a form of community service. We all joke, but the harsh reality is a very lonely man, eating a microwave meal for one (well it's a meal for two really, but there's only one spoon) somewhere near Leeds in the north of England. This thread will be the only human interaction he has for several days, besides the man who answers the phone at dominos. It's a very sad thing. I feel your pain Dave, John or whatever your name is. Just loose a bit of weight, have a shower, and keep your head up. Good luck to you.

what else can i tell you?

I don't know, you could always tell us how big your house is and how rich you are again.

<deleted>

Does this have anything to do with Farang running in the roads or is it completely different subject matter?

His spelling was better when he was pretending to be Thai, than now, when he's being English!! Bore off mate!

People who think they are Thai don't exist. There are people who have adapted and integrated in to the Thai way of life, better than others. There are people who have more respect for Thai people and Thailand than others do, and there are people who enjoy living in Thailand more than others do. Then there are the others, that sit on the side line, pointing, talking about people trying to be Thai.

Goes a long way to explain why my nearest ex-pat neighbour was wearing that flowery design shirt all over Songkran.

Flowery shirt over songkran = thinks he is Thai

I am British and I have also lost the right to a say back home, in the coming election, because I live overseas.

You can have my postal vote if you want ...... I don't care about England any more.

That's funny, she's been saying the same thing about you.

Futhermore, I firmly believe that a large majority of Thais believe that weteners are "fair game" and can be ripped-off, over-charged, hoodwincked at will. This aspect seems to be a national sport and condoned (even if not practiced) across the social/financial spectrum.

Racist tripe!

I makes you wonder out loud if certain farang personality types are more prone to getting into these situations, where they end up thinking they are the "only one", when in fact they are just one of many on the "list".

I think women like you describe are in the vast minority of total Thai women, and this "lowest common denominator" paints many of the good ones with a negative brush/stigma.

Perhaps some thai girls that have worked in bars ( mostly starting off to help their family) get jaded by years of dealing with the lowest common denominator of farang sex tourist, and they want to "get even".

Just go to Pattaya, on Walking Street for example, and observe some of the pieces of work ( farang). It is pretty disheartening that so many eminate there, followed by the women to service their needs.

Where does the blame start? I say it starts with the sex tourists.

.. I wish more of these types would start treating women with more respect, not like pieces of meat.

good post

I think you betray your own prejudices and bigotry when you tar all sex-tourists with the same brush

SC

Well please enlighten us SC. Your constant defense of sex tourists, and claims that they can't all be tarred with the same brush, leads me to believe you are constantly defending yourself. So which kind are you, that is so much more appropriate??

People are seriously talking about the best ways to find women on line Unbelievable. They then have the audacity to come on a forum and and make racist, sweeping statements about the entire, Thai female population, based on woman who were looking for men on the internet. What a bunch of loosers.

Big assumptions, and not very nice ones.

If you see a black man driving a Benz, do you assume he's a drug dealer? - some people do.

Touche!

Completely true, 100% of my encounters thru the internet ended with money request. So warning to all farang who meet gals on internet, be very careful and change name, phone email, etc as soon as the internet mate asks for money, is just the beginning and will never end

The internet wasn't able to find you a perfect life partner?? What is this world coming to.

self ranked endowment status.... hmmm sounds like a recipe of honest answers

I know......

I am just already sick of the "All Thai women are out for my cash' threads....

Agree with you, but don't think this was one of those particularly.

I pretty much agree that very few of us really understand Thais - and many of the expats who think that they are Thai are usually the most clueless of all.

Judging others by your own poor standards. I wish I had 10 baht for every time I had to write those words on TV.

People who think they are Thai don't exist. There are people who have adapted and integrated in to the Thai way of life, better than others. There are people who have more respect for Thai people and Thailand than others do, and there are people who enjoy living in Thailand more than others do. Then there are the others, that sit on the side line, pointing, talking about people trying to be Thai.

Look around you, the answer is right in front of you. The vast majority, over 99%, are with Thais and have no interest in Farang at all. What percentage of the minority is just looking for a meal ticket, who knows, I guess it would be quite high.

I think you're wrong however, sugesting that because someone is actively seeking Farang that automaticaly means they are looking for a meal ticket. Some Thais will just fancy Farang and vice versa. I always liked asian women growing up, yet have friends who don't find them attractive at all.

The funny thing is that the only time he sees your criticism is in my response to it.

I just put you on the list as well, so that's no longer true.

And so the time gets closer and closer where 'Sarahsbloke' spends all day writing and reading his own posts and then responding to them. Maybe after a while he'll disgust himself.

You're obviously not starting to understand them if that's what you think.

Do you?

Absolutely not & i've long since given up as i, nor you, nor anyone else outside of their way of thinking & culture, ever will...

So Farang who have been married to Thai woman and lived among Thai people for 10, 20 sometimes 30 years, have no understanding of Thai people and their culture??

Doesn't sound right to me.

There is no "best" place to live. Thailand is not for everyone. There are lots of frustrations and BS to endure, but we each have to decide for

ourselves if we want to endure it or not. I still enjoy living here, but if I ceased to enjoy, I would leave. Simple as that. The one piece of advise I gave myself (and freely give to others) is not to have unrealistic expectations, an do not invest more than you can afford to walk away from without damaging yourself too much financially. I have met lots of guys trying to live here on pretty meager budgets. They are very vulnerable in my view. I have also met lots of guys who have sunk their life savings into business ventures and houses in which they have very little control over. To me that is just nuts. I have met guys who have made the same bad decisions about women that they would probably make anywhere else, and then blame the country. It's not like there are not warnings out there. If a guy comes here on a retirement visa, with a decent income and no "baggage" he can live a pretty nice life here, and if he is smart enough to keep his options open, he can move on any time he chooses. The bottom line is that Thailand is just bulging at the seams with bitter, socially challenged misfits who have probably failed at just about everything they have tried and we get to hear from them all the time. If you come here for the right reasons, with a clean slate and you feel free to leave the same way, Thailand is just fine.

Anyhow I hope you feel more satisfied with life wherever you plan to go next...

Could the TV powers that be, pin this post somewhere at the top of the forum, with 'PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING' above it. It would save us all a lot of time reading the same, tired old drivel.

Nice post mate.

highlights the bloke as a pathetic little man, who uses his posts to make his inadequate life seem less so,

You say this about someone based on a few posts; someone you have never met.

If the same criteria was used for you, you could be mistaken as an argumentative, morally superior, judgemental person that doesn't really know too much about the country you're living in.

I'm sure neither one of you guys is anything like this in real life.

Evan Johns.

All except the last bit, that's exactly what I'm like, so I rest my case. I bet he's exactly the same in real life as he sounds in his posts. Anyone who defends a man who makes a post such as the 'abandoning his family' one will also find themselves on the end of my judgemental, morally superior personality.

I have been coming to Thailand for over 4 years, but sadly have spent a lot of that time in Pattaya. I have had a great time in Pattaya, but could never consider living there, the town is far too "Red Light" Tourists and marines use the place as an oversized Brothel, disrespecting the locals and bringing their"booze buster" attitudes to the town. I see Pattaya as an Asian version of the costa del sol, just without the Dosh. And it is hardly surprising that the general attitude of the locals is very much alike the spanish, very cold and harsh.

Not a town for me!

I love Thailand so much, and in particular the Islands, after travelling to Koh Chang (Too Quiet) Koh Samui (too many pissed backpackers) several times, Phuket was suggested by a really good friend of mine, so after a brief visit just after new year, i was smitten. I came to Phuket not knowing what to expect, and immediately knew this was a place i could hang my hat. I have met so many pleasant and genuinely nice people here, and in my opinion, its the people that make a place, without even considering the beauty.

I have a stable business in the Uk which looks after itself, and there are obvious UK tax reasons for becoming an ex pat. Don't get me wrong, it wont make me a millionaire.......but will allow me to live comfortably. That aside, i'm still looking for something to do though, i hear what some of you chaps are saying, make your money back home, not in PHUKET, and to a certain extent i agree, however, with being a thirty something male, i would still like to make a bit of biz here, and tbh, as long as it cuts its teeth and keeps me busy, thats fine for me.

Alex

Nice post, glad to see you've found the right place, I'm sure you'll be happy in Phuket.

As for the business, I know you've heard this many times before, you said as much, but I for one think it just isn't worth it. You've got a bit of money, get yourself some hobbies.

I know some people find it hard doing nothing, and need to be busy, but there's so much to do, it has to better than working surely. The potential pitfalls that are associated with running businesses here just doesn't seem worth the agro to me.

Good luck mate.

Instead of contradicting the poster, you've resorted to insults and berating him for his own personal failings, rather than presenting a reasoned and sensible contradiction. Which makes you look ignorant and unreasonable - evidence that appearances can be deceptive, I hope.

Personally, I don't disagree with the truth of much of what he says; only its sentiment. And it may even be that he is not obnoxious and arrogant - although his posts on this and other fora give that impression.

SC

Sorry mate that's utter tripe. Recently he said, because he couldn't become a Thai citizen, he would happily leave his Thai wife and KIDS behind, if he had to leave, and felt that he had zero responsibility for them!

After an abundance of posts like that, a person looses the right to have his opinions argued logically, talk about pissing in the wind!

Yes I could ignore him and probably should, but people like that don't wind me up, or upset me, so it is no hardship for me to reply to his posts. He has the right to spout despicable nonsense, I'm fairly sure I have the right to tell him what I think, as a result.

If you can't see ,that the fact he has put me on his "I don't want to play with him list" highlights the bloke as a pathetic little man, who uses his posts to make his inadequate life seem less so, then perhaps you are a bit to similar to him for comfort.

I think you're both being unfair to sarahsbloke

Don't worry, they're both on my ignore list so I don't even know what they are going on about.

I suggest they both put me on their ignore lists too ....... then we never have to think about the other person again.

How long will it be before he can only see posts written by himself.

three years is probably long enough in any place, unless its home. Time to move on for lots of us.

SC

The thing that really cracks me up and highlights how much <deleted> people talk, is the fact that people go home, because this place has sudenly become crap, yet their amount of posts on TV continues to go up.

They don't quite make the clean break, and brand new start that they promised!!

I think you're both being unfair to sarahsbloke because he seems like an obnoxious arrogant <deleted>. I notice that you don't try and have a debate on the content of his posting. You'd be better to let it go, and avoid airing your prejudices and inadequacies. Dirty laundry should be washed, not aired.

I genuinly have no clue what that means! You're accepting he's an obnoxious etc, etc. but your saying we're highlighting our inadequacies! You say, we don't debate on the content of his posting?? What the hel_l does that mean? It's the content of his posting that is so objectionable that people feel the need to comment. Sorry, you've lost me.

to whom are you addressing?

Have you read this thread? I was reffering to the same person you were, that's kind of why my post followed yours and I quoted you. That's how this thing works.

OK...now that I know you're a guy, and so knowledgeable about Thai customs & traditions (who to wai, when and why), learned everything you know from the bar girls and your ex.....I see that you're are a total joke unto yourself and have nothing valid to say to anyone....you're all smoke and crap...why don't you stop trying to convince others how much you think you know when it's obvious, you don't know shi....t.

If only it was that easy. Posters like this feed from all the negative responses they get. It's an attention seeking thing. Makes them feel important. Very sad.